Smith impressed by new faces

12 Feb 2011 20:30:23

Walter Smith praised Kyle Bartley and David Healy after the January signings made impressive debuts in Rangers' 6-0 romp over Motherwell.Arsenal defender Bartley, who was on loan at Sheffield United before sealing a similar move to the Scottish champions, made his first appearance when he started in the holding midfield role usually occupied by the injured Lee McCulloch.Healy also had a maiden bow to remember when he completed the rout at Ibrox following Steven Naismith's opener, a hat-trick from Nikica Jelavic and an own goal by Shaun Hutchinson.Rangers will learn this coming week whether McCulloch will play again this season, when he goes under the knife to cure a knee problem, and Smith was asked whether Bartley could be a potential replacement.He said: "The lad is a central defender, he is not a midfield player but he has played there before. We were keen to see whether he could fit into that role and I think he showed he can move forward quite comfortably into that kind of role."From being a centre-half, you would see him as being a more defensive-type midfield player, which is the job that we would want him to do. But when the opportunity arises, he has shown a capability of getting forward and it was an excellent pass through for the second goal."